Week 3: Getting into Research

More about Carl Safina, thoughts on what research species I plan on choosing, and an introduction to my research process so far.

This week I read "Killer Wails" from Safina's book called Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel. This chapter went in depth on killer whales, addressing their diets, communication, interaction with humans, their personality, and their minds. The part of the chapter that stuck with me the most was when Safina discussed the interaction killer whales have with humans. The author presented us with stories that really made you question how these whales are even called "killers". There have been many instances where killer whales have been of great assistance to humans, saving lives or the lives of their dogs. One heartwarming story is that of an 18 year old trying to commit suicide. This young girl swam off shore with intentions of killing herself. However, her later unconscious body was found by a group of whales who created a circle around her. One of the whales swam eagerly to a nearby researcher, motioning them to follow. The researcher followed, finding the 18 year old girl's body surrounded by whales. The whales ended up saving this girls life. Similarly, we also read about killer whales assisting dogs -who swam too far off shore- in reuniting with their owners. These acts of compassion make me want to learn more about the minds of animals that are deemed to be vicious.

This leads me into the species I want to research for my Literature Review. Sharks, specifically Great Whites, are my favorite animals. A lot of people think of Great White sharks as killers, but I think there is so much more to them and would like to research them in depth. This species has been my first choice since the start of the course. Considering my large collection of shark items from blankets, sculptures, and stuffed animals, I could not imagine choosing another animal. Although I haven't chosen a topic out of intelligence, social intelligence, social behavior, emotions, consciousness, or communication, I am leaning towards communication, emotions, or intelligence because of the interesting information I read about killer whales and their sense of intelligence, their emotions, and the levels of communication.

This is a shark on the news at my favorite beach, Del Mar, back home in San Diego!

My research this week mostly consisted of looking up researchers and their corresponding organizations, if they had any. I checked out the Week 3 Research Advice document that was provided which gave me some tips on finding information on researchers. Using Google Scholar was helpful during this process because I was provided with information that I could trust and oftentimes was given the works of the researchers I looked up, such as the books, articles, and papers they have written. However, I encountered some challenges when it came to researching smaller researchers. This is when I turned to other websites outside of Google Scholar, such as Wikipedia. Additionally, this week when researching I tried to get at least one source on sharks that could be useful for my Literature Review. The best source I found was an article about sharks and their communication. Click on the link to check it out:

https://www.maritimeherald.com/2021/how-do-sharks-communicate/! I tweeted this article as well because I thought it was a great read that others would be interested in. I plan to continue finding articles like this with the help of the research advice I've obtained and the much needed practice I have had this past week.

I hope you were able to learn some more about Carl Safina's book, my research topic of interest, and my research process!

All the best,

Pallavi Rajeev